Home modifications on the NDIS: what gets funded and what doesn't

Home modification requests get declined more often than most other NDIS supports, and usually for reasons that were predictable before the application was submitted. Here is what the system is actually looking for.

The basic test

The NDIS funds modifications that are reasonable and necessary because of a person's disability, that relate to their functional need, and that are the most cost-effective way of meeting it.

Three words in that sentence do most of the work. Disability-related — not general home improvement. Functional need — tied to something the person cannot currently do safely. Cost-effective — if equipment would solve the problem, equipment will be funded before building work.

Minor versus major

Minor modifications are lower-cost, non-structural changes: grab rails, handrails, hand-held showers, lever taps, step ramps, minor door hardware changes. They need less evidence and move considerably faster.

Major modifications change the structure: level-entry showers, bathroom reconfiguration, widened doorways, permanent ramps, kitchen height changes, structural access work. These require a detailed OT report, quotes, and in most cases involvement from a building practitioner. They take months, not weeks.

The cost thresholds separating the two are set by the NDIA and change from time to time, so check the current figure rather than relying on a number quoted online.

What the report has to establish

An OT home modification report needs to draw a straight line from the disability to the functional problem to the proposed solution. In practice that means:

• What the person can and cannot currently do in that part of the home, described specifically
• What the risk or consequence is — falls, injury, inability to shower, reliance on paid support
• What alternatives were considered, including equipment, and why they were insufficient
• What is proposed, in enough detail to be quoted and built
• What the expected functional outcome is

Reports that skip the alternatives section are the ones most likely to come back with questions. The delegate has to be able to see that the cheaper option was considered.

What usually doesn't get funded

• General repairs and maintenance. A deck that needs replacing is a homeowner's problem, even if it is also unsafe.
• Improvements the whole household benefits from equally. A new kitchen is a new kitchen.
• Work in a home the person is about to leave. If a move is planned, the modification usually should not be.
• Modifications a landlord should provide, or has not consented to. Written owner consent is required in rented properties, and getting it is often the slow step.
• Anything without an OT report. A quote alone is not evidence.

How long it takes

Realistically: assessment, then report, then quotes, then a funding decision, then the build. Minor work can be done in a matter of weeks. Major work is commonly six months or more from first appointment to finished bathroom, and can be longer if quotes have to be redone or information is requested.

The single biggest cause of delay is starting late. The second is submitting a report that does not answer the questions the delegate has to ask.

Renting

Modifications in rental properties are possible but need the owner's written consent, and often an agreement about whether the work is reinstated at the end of the tenancy. Start that conversation before the assessment, not after the report is written.

If you have a Home Care Package instead

Home modifications are also funded in aged care, through the Support at Home Assistive Technology and Home Modifications scheme, which has its own rules and limits. The OT assessment process is similar; the funding pathway is not. More on package funding.

If you are on the Mornington Peninsula and thinking about a modification, the useful first step is an assessment of the space rather than a builder's quote. How we do home modification assessments.